Minister of Commerce joins the 15th AEM-EU Trade Commissioner Consultations

Manila, Philippines – In the morning of Friday 10 March 2017, Cambodian delegation led by H.E. PAN Sorasak, Cambodian Minister of Commerce and Minister of Economics to ASEAN attended the 15th AEM-EU Trade Commissioner Consultations to strengthen bilateral cooperation on economics, trade, and investment.

The consultations was co-chaired by H.E. Ramon Lopez, Secretary General of Trade and Industry of the Philippines and H.E. Cecilia Malmstrom, Trade Commissioner of the European Union.

In his opening remark, H.E. Ramon Lopez pointed out that ASEAN becomes an attractive market for trade and direct investments from the EU.

H.E. Cecilia Malmstrom agreed that ASEAN is a good trading and investment partner of the EU, and both have good relationship in term of politics and economics. “The EU wishes to involve deeply in the ASEAN framework,” she added.

The consultations noted issues and recommendations raised by the ASEAN-EU Business Council and praised its active engagement in promotion of trade and investment through various platforms. In addition, it endorsed a work-plan-program of ASEAN-EU for 2017-2018 and negotiated on the re-implementation of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two parties.

According to the EU’s statistics, bilateral trade of the EU and the ASEAN reached USD 208 billion in 2016. The EU still has been a major source of direct investment for the ASEAN, accounted USD 23,3 billion in 2015.